The Crystal Wizards
by Suroun
Summary: Alternate Universe. When Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl get accepted to Hogwarts, will they get more than they bargained for?- This fan-fiction has been discontinued.
1. Chapter 1

Elf couldn't believe her eyes when Rose handed her the envelope. Rose smiled down at her with a giant teasing grin on her face, eyes sparkling.

"I know I could have just told you since I'm the headmaster and you live here, but I thought you'd like to have your own like the other students!" The little house elf reached up and took the letter and broke the seal bearing the Hogwarts crest. She opened the letter with trembling fingers and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Mistress Rose! You've… you've accepted me to Hogwarts?" Elf asked apprehensively. "But… I'm a house-elf! It's unheard of…what will people say about you?" Elf was nervous but she looked trustingly to Rose for an answer.

"What anyone says about me doesn't matter. It's about time someone put a stop to all this discrimination. I only wish I could change the laws. The fact that houselves are still enslaved is appalling! You'd think in Britain of all places our society would have moved beyond that!" Elf didn't know how she could ever thank her new mistress enough! The chance to get an education…to make something of herself…it was more than she ever dared to hope for. Her little heart swelled over with gratitude. Even if Rose had never given her that chance, she was lucky to be with her. She was so kind to her and actually paid her for her work. It was such a contrast from the way her old mistress had treated her, working her nearly to death, beating her, all the while mocking the fact that she couldn't do a thing about it… One day she'd had enough. She used her magic on White Diamond. She didn't even know how that was possible given the enchantment over her, but she did it; however, her mistress made sure she paid for it. White Diamond used the cruciatus curse on her, right there in front of her guests, all of whom just laughed as Elf writhed in agony, except for Rose Quarts-a work associate of the pureblood Diamond family, who could only watch with silent pity. After it was all over White Diamond Raised her wand again, threatening the death curse. Elf's desperate pleas only fell on deaf ears.

"Anyone here want to buy a lightly used house-elf for a few galleons or should I just exterminate this little pest?" The others, relatives of White Diamond only chuckled darkly but Rose, quickly offered up the gold, much to everyone's surprise. Since that time, Elf had been living with her rescuer for a couple of months. She was so grateful toward her but questions about her new mistress still ate at her mind. It was beyond her why someone so wonderful had anything to do with that awful family. And she was almost afraid to ask but…

"Mistress Rose, may I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Why…if you think it's wrong to have houselves… haven't you given me clothes? Elf glanced up nervously, wondering if she'd said too much.

"You'll find out soon, my pearl." Rose walked out of the room with a wink. Elf loved it when she called her that. Pearl- like a precious gem, like she was something special. Elf was the only "name" she'd ever known. She sighed and wondered what the other students at Hogwarts would say. "An elf named Elf? How incredibly original." She wished she had a proper name to call her own. "Oh man!" she realized. "It's so obvious!" The tiny six-inch tall elf climbed up onto Rose's vanity and said with conviction, "My name is Pearl."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi! Sorry I haven't updated lately, but school is finally out now so I'll have more time to write fanfiction instead of research papers! Grades should be in tomorrow and I'm feeling pretty confident right now but that's usually how I feel before I fully understand something.**

The next day, Pearl sat on Rose's shoulder as they made their way down Diagon alley. She looked around at all the ancient buildings with strange and magical merchandise with wide-eyed excitement and wonder. She'd never been so happy in her life.

"First stop, Madam Malkin's!" Rose sang cheerily.

"What's Madam Malkin's?" Pearl asked.

"It's where we'll be buying your school robes" Rose replied and Pearl's heart gave a leap. Rose was going to give her clothes! She was going to be free! She loved Rose of course, she had saved her after all, but she was technically still enslaved to her. That's not what she wanted to be to Rose. She wanted to be something far more to her than her servant, and now she was going to be given that chance. When they arrived at the shop, Rose asked for a fitting room and had Pearl hop down onto a little platform. "Stay here, please." Rose said and went off to talk to a woman Pearl assumed was Madam Malkin and was staring at her with confused curiosity. Pearl began to feel a bit self-conscious under the witch's gaze as she and Rose exchanged a whispered conversation. After a few minutes and quite a few uncomfortable glances from Madam Malkin, the woman bustled off to get something, and Rose strode back over to where Pearl was standing. Rose suddenly squatted down to look Pearl in the eyes, and Pearl squirmed awkwardly. "Pearl, I want you to listen to me carefully. I'm going to give you robes today but that will not make you free."

"Wha...what?" Pearl asked, tears welling in her eyes. Had Rose really just wanted her as a servant after all?

"The moment you used your magic against White Diamond, you became free. The spell that enslaves house-elves works by turning the elf's mental chains into a physical force that holds her back or constrains her to obey. You forgot the spell existed in your desperation and did what you had to do to protect yourself. You resisted that spell. Freedom isn't a circumstance; it's staying true to oneself. But sometimes circumstances in life make freedom nearly impossible. Pearl, you set yourself free."

"Rose, no… I just can't believe that. I'll never be free unless you give me clothes! I can't do it myself Rose" Pearl cried.

"Pearl." Rose said with deadly seriousness. "I command you to use your magic to kill me." Pearl gasped as she felt the familiar sensation force her arm up and a magical field of energy form around her hand. She held her breath and tried to pull her arm down.

"Rose, WHY?!" she wept, and with everything she had in her, blasted a hole in the floor near Rose's feet.

"You missed." Rose beamed with pride as she embraced the still crying but relieved elf.


	3. Chapter 3

**Well, if anyone's curious my grades came in last night and I made a 3.1, so I'm quite relieved.** **Pearl gets her wand in this chapter! BTW my wand on pottermore is sycamore and dragon-heartstring, 12 3/4 inches and of a hard flexibility.**

After Pearl had calmed down and Rose had magically repaired the gaping hole in the floor, Pearl realized Rose was right. She was a free elf, and she belonged at Hogwarts no matter what anyone else might think. Madam Malkin bustled back into the room and told them she had found some robes in the back and had Pearl try them on, but they were far too large.

"I don't think these are quite my size" Pearl commented. The sleeves came all the way to the floor and dragged behind her.

"Don't worry, I'll fix them, dear" Madam Malkin replied, and shrunk the robes with a flourish of her wand. "Reducto." Pearl felt the clothes constrict painfully around her form and let out a strangled gasp. "Oospy daisy" the woman apologized, and muttered another spell to loosen the clothes. "Alright then. That ought to do it. The Hogwarts crest will turn into your house crest and the embroidery will turn your house colors when you are sorted. It's a new feature. We used to have to sew the crest and embroidery in after your first year. Rather inconvenient." Pearl and Rose thanked the woman and she and Rose exchanged a few galleons. Rose and Pearl then left the shop and Rose bought them both ice cream before heading to Olivander's. Rose got a large bowl of butter pecan and Pearl chose a small waffle cone full of raspberry ice cream with rainbow sprinkles on top. They soon arrived at the famous wand shop and Pearl looked around the massive building with wonder. There were boxes of wands everywhere. How would they ever find the right one?

"Pearl, this is Mr. Olivander." Rose introduced, and the old man shook the house-elf's had after exchanging a friendly hello with Rose.

"Nice to meet you, Pearl. Rose has told me how excited you are to be going to Hogwarts." Pearl didn't know what to make of this. She still wasn't quite used to being spoken to like she was human. "So glad they repealed that law about free elves not being allowed to have wands." Rose gave the man a stern look and he quickly decided it might be best to stop talking and start taking measurements. He used a floating tape measure to determine Pearl's proportions, ones that Pearl thought should not be relevant, but she decided to just go with it. He asked a few questions while he was working and when he finished the measurements, he hurried of to get a box. "I believe you would certainly must be best suited to a wand with a core of unicorn hair. This one is rowan wood, ten inches, surprisingly swishy. Try and lift the box with it" he said, setting the wand's box on the counter. Pearl couldn't even lift it, as it was over three times her size. Olivander quickly took it and came back with another. "cedar, nine and three quarter inches, pliant." Pearl barely got the tip off of the ground. "Alright, how about this"? Olivander handed her another one and Pearl thought she might ask if he had any that were actually her size. "Aspen, unicorn hair, nine and a half inches, supple." Pearl took the wand in hand and felt a cool, tingling sensation in her fingers. It was only a little smaller than the others, but as if by magic, she could lift it with ease. The box on the counter began to levitate. Pearl laughed delightedly. The wand was so large compared to her that she felt more like she was carrying a spear or sword than a wand, but it just felt so right. Rose of course could not have looked more proud. At that moment, the door jingled and a young girl of about eleven walked into the shop.

"Amethyst!" Rose said happily, waving the girl over.

"Professor Quartz!" the girl grinned and jumped into Rose's arms. "I'm so glad to see you!"

"Hi." Pearl nervously greeted the girl.

"Oh, you must be Pearl. Professor Quartz told me all about you and that you'll be coming to Hogwarts! First elf ever, huh? That's fantastic!" Pearl blushed a bit but Amethyst didn't seem to notice. "I'm here to get my wand! What did you get?" Pearl showed the girl her wand and Amethyst chuckled throatily. "Dude, it's so big! It looks like you need to use a cane!" Pearl felt a bit self-conscious, but said nothing, so Rose broke the awkward silence by further introducing the two.

"Amethyst lives at the orphanage and I've been tutoring her in the summers since she was little. She's quite the talent, always has been. She's a metamorphmagus and Animagus! Show her Amethyst!" The girl grinned mischievously as her dark golden skin turned bright purple and her long brunette hair a pale lavender. Pearl gasped in shock.

"Pretty cool, huh? Well check this out!" Amethyst said as she morphed into a huge puma right in the middle of the shop. Pearl hid behind Rose, scared the puma might see her as a snack, but Amethyst shifted back to her human self and laughed obnoxiously. "Don't worry, I don't bite!" she yelled out, not at all in an indoor voice. This girl was downright feral, Pearl thought to herself. "Well, I gotta go get myself a wand!" Amethyst said in a goofy voice and hurried over to the counter. Rose and Pearl watched as she tried the first wand Olivander gave her, a perfect match on the first go.

"Dogwood, dragon heartstring, fourteen and a half inches, surprisingly swishy. Just as I thought Olivander smiled proudly as she handed the girl her wand. Amethyst showed Rose the wand and Rose looked it over admiringly.

"Very nice. I knew you'd be dogwood" Amethyst actually began to bark like a dog and run around on all fours until she ran completely out of the shop, laughing hysterically the whole time.

"Is she mad?" Pearl asked Rose, honestly a little frightened of her soon-to –be classmate.

"No, she's a bit of a wild child though. I don't want you to tell this to any of the children at Hogwarts, but her parents abandoned her as a baby and then murdered a couple of aurors using the death curse. They're in Azkaban now, and Amethyst is terribly embarrassed about the whole matter. Anyway, we'd better get going; we still have most of your school supplies to buy, I'll even get you a pet to go with you if you'd like."


	4. Chapter 4

August flew by before Pearl knew it. She couldn't wait to get to school, but she was having the time of her life already while she was preparing to go. She had already read all of her course books and highlighted what she believed were the most important sections. She copied those into a notebook and committed all the spells and the theories behind them to memory. She couldn't wait to get to Hogwarts and prove to everyone that she was a great witch, house-elf or not. When the long hours of study got a bit tedious, she enjoyed taking a break and spending time playing with her new post owl, whom she named Snowdrop. The bird was bigger than she was, so she could climb on its back and fly around the grounds of the gorgeous Quartz manner whenever she pleased. The gentle summer breeze rushed through her ears and seemed to warm her very heart. She had never felt so alive.

The night before the train came to take her off to school, she took one of these flights right as dusk settled over the top of the mansion. As excited as she was for the term to begin, she was going to miss this place. Here she was completely loved and accepted, but she had no idea how the other students would take to one of her kind. Her stomach was in knots as she landed Snowdrop, but the beautiful owl must have sensed her nervous energy because she soon found herself lifted by her arms as the bird dangled her playfully in its talons.

"Hey! Snowdrop, stop it!" Pearl giggled and the white owl set her down and ruffled its feathers. Pearl stroked the beautiful bird's head and leaned into its side. "I know Snowy, everything will be just fine." Pearl reassured herself as she knelt down to pick a dandelion and tuck it into her pet's soft, downy feathers.

"Pearl, where are you?" Pearl heard Rose calling from the house and she ran to meet her. "Oh, there you are. You really shouldn't be out this late, the train leaves tomorrow." The woman gently scolded. "Why don't we have a cup of tea, and then you should be off to bed. Of course, I imagine you won't get much sleep for the excitement, am I right?" Rose winked.

The two enjoyed tea and pastries and Pearl listened as Rose reminisced memories of her own days as a student at Hogwarts. "Don't be worried if the hat takes a while to make a decision, sometimes it does if you could belong in more than one. It took forever for the hat to decide whether to put me in Gryffindor or Hufflepuff, but I was eventually sorted into the house of the lionhearted!" Rose grinned. "Heaven knows why. I've never thought of myself as particularly brave. I wish I had the courage to stand up to my boss. She's a real witch, and not just in the literal sense!" Rose confided. "Pink Diamond the minister of magic and non-human magical creatures and muggles are nothing but vermin to her; However, if I can just stay in the good graces of her family I have a good chance of becoming minister myself. If so, I could finally give house- elves like you the rights they deserve."

"So that's why you still work with those evil clo…"

"Pearl, there's no need for that kind of language in my house." Rose warned, and Pearl blushed with embarrassment. Now that she didn't have to be so careful to watch her tongue, her language became rather nasty whenever she referenced the Diamond's, but she was usually very polite around Rose out of respect.

"I hope I'll be in Gryffindor like you!" Pearl said, trying to save face a bit by changing the subject. "The Diamonds are all Slytherins! The whole house must be pure evil!"

"I hate to speak ill of any of my students." Rose replied. "But I'm afraid you may be right about Slytherin being evil, but not _pure_ evil. Even the worst people have good in them, even the Diamonds." Pearl found that statement a little hard to swallow. How could a Slytherin possibly have any good in them, let alone a Diamond?

 **Hope you enjoyed it! Next Chapter: Enter, Garnet!**

 **Bonus: Earlier today-**

 **Me: I have sinned**

 **My Brother: What'd you do?**

 **Me: I made a PB &J Burrito.**

 **My Brother: Awesome Sin! ^ (-_-)**


	5. Chapter 5

Pearl stared at the wall apprehensively. Rose told her she'd have to go through without her because she needed to use her own resolute determination to pass through the barrier to platform 9 ¾. Everyone was waiting on her, and Rose had promised to be right behind her with her stuff. Pearl took a deep breath and ran headfirst at the wall and just when she thought she was going to crash, she found herself on the platform to the Hogwarts express. If she thought she was out of the woods though, she had another think coming. Students and their parents surrounded the tiny elf and she had to jump around as quickly as she could to avoid being trampled. "Hey watch it! I'm down here, you're about to squash me!" Pearl yelped, but no one could hear her over the hustle and bustle of the busy station. Some random witch kicked her over, perhaps not unintentionally by the looks of it, and Pearl almost got stepped on by another student before someone snatched her out of harm's way.

"Woah, are you alright?" Pearl looked up to see the most unusual looking girl she had ever laid eyes on. In fact, the girl had three. She was also one of the tallest eleven or twelve year olds she had ever seen. She had beautiful black skin and a messy afro, and was wearing ripped leggings and a pink and blue tie-died t-shirt. She looked quite disheveled, but the overall effect of the outfit was cheerful and carefree. "I'm Garnet by the way." The girl said, and Pearl realized she'd been gawking at her this whole time.

"Oh, uh…Yeah, I'm fine" Pearl mumbled awkwardly. "Nice to meet you. I'm Pearl." The two shook hands just as Rose walked in through the barrier.

"Oh, there you are, Pearl." Rose said and walked over to Garnet. "Sorry I took so long, some of your stuff fell out of the cart." Rose then turned her attention to the other child. "You must be new young lady. I'm Professor Quartz, the headmaster, but I teach herbology as well. What's your name?"

"Garnet." The girl said timidly.

"Pleasure." Rose said warmly and gave the child a bright smile. "Well, you best be getting on the train as soon as possible, or all the good spots will be taken." Garnet stayed to help Rose and Pearl take Pearl's school things though, and by the time they got everything (including Garnet's own supplies) to the train, there were almost no seats left, so they decided to ride in the caboose. Garnet clambered in with both of their trunks and Pearl walked at her side. Garnet seemed a bit clumsy but the girl was very strong to be able to get it all on her own, even considering her size. As it turned out Amethyst was in the back as well, but she seemed upset. Pearl noticed that her eyes were rather bloodshot, and wondered if she had been crying. She seemed to perk up when she saw Pearl though, and walked over to meet her.

"Hey Pearl, nice to see you again." She said warmly, but Pearl thought she still sensed a bit of a tremor to the girl's voice.

"You two know each other?" Garnet asked, and Amethyst introduced herself and told her how she and Pearl met at the wand shop. The three girls sat down and began to talk about wands. "I actually got mine when I was younger than eleven because my uncles trade used ones illegally." Garnet winked. "I've had this since I was eight, actually. One of the ones they had stocked up chose me so they let me keep it. It was hawthorn and phoenix feather, twelve inches and quite bendy, an Olivander wand. But after my parents died, I had a piece of wood from each of theirs incorporated into mine, and a piece of the core. My Dad's wand was Cypress and dragon heartstring, and my Mom's was Silver Lime and phoenix feather."

"Wow, I'm sorry about your parents, G. Mine aren't around anymore either." Amethyst said sympathetically.

"Yeah, I hope I get into Gryfindor or Ravenclaw like one of them." Garnet said. "What about you?"

"I just wanna find wherever I really belong, ya know? As long as I'm not in Slytherin, I'm good." Amethyst replied.

"I want to be sorted into Gryfindor like Professor Quartz." Pearl piped up. "She said I'll probably be sorted into Ravenclaw the way I've been studying though." She giggled. "I'm with Amethyst though,  
I'd be happy with anything but Slytherin."

The three kids became fast friends that day, eating every flavor beans and chatting about all the crazy adventures Garnet shared about her two uncles, whom had raised her after her parents died. Turns out Garnet's father had two identical triplet brothers, who had been real pranksters back in their school days. The girls' ribs ached with laughter after a particular story about the time they cast an invisibility charm on the Slytherin keeper's pants during a quidditch match. He didn't even notice until after the announcer pointed it out! Before any of the children knew it, the train came to a stop and they were moments away from their first look at Hogwarts.


	6. Chapter 6

After Rose led all the students across the black lake, and the Hogwarts ghosts gave them all a warm (and chilling) welcome, they stood apprehensively as they waited to be sorted. Several students Pearl didn't know yet were sorted into their houses, but she finally recognized one of them.

"Peridot." Pearl whispered and her eyes narrowed with contempt. Peridot was White Diamond's niece. She had visited the manor with her mother on occasion, and took great pleasure in teasing and taunting Pearl. She wasn't as bad as the rest of the family, probably only because she was still a child, but she was a nasty little brat nonetheless. Pearl leaned forward expectantly, believing the hat would shout "Slytherin" almost immediately, but instead the hat deliberated for quite a while. In fact, it was over five minutes before the hat decided that Peridot was neither slytherin nor ravenclaw. "Gryffindor!" The hat yelled resoundingly, and Peridot looked confused and even a bit frightened as she went to join the older gryffindor students. Pearl had to stifle a laugh. "Brave indeed". Pearl rolled her eyes. Still, surely the sorting hat wasn't ever wrong, right? Maybe there was more to the little jerk.

Pearl's thoughts snapped back away from Peridot as she heard Garnet's name called. Garnet took Pearl off of her shoulder and handed the little elf over to Amethyst. For whatever reason a few children stepped back uncomfortably as Garnet stepped up to the stool, but Pearl wanted to listen in more closely. "Interesting. Very Interesting. I see you're quite intelligent; you have a great deal of foresight and quite bold and daring as well. I remember your parents well; they certainly left their mark. You have the heart of a lion, like your father, but twice as big as one; better be…Hufflepuff!" A few snickers were heard throughout the crowd along with a few snide comments, but Garnet just grinned broadly and waved to Pearl and Amethyst as the other hufflepuffs clapped her on the back in welcome.

"Listen to me!" Pearl was disrupted by some older slyherin students who were sitting nearby where the first years were waiting. A huge, muscular boy who looked like he was about seventeen or eighteen was grabbing a much younger looking girl by the face and hissing menacingly in her ear. The poor girl was maybe sixteen at best.

"Jasper please, you're hurting me." The girl whispered tremblingly with fear in her eyes.

"Hurting you? I'll show you pain, you little b…" Pearl suddenly felt herself being set down and Amethyst stepped forward. Pearl hadn't heard her name being called; she'd been to caught up in the older student's conversation. Her heart swelled in silent fury and her palms felt sweaty. How dare he! Pearl knew there was nothing she could do for now, but she was going to make sure Rose knew about this as soon as she got the chance! For now, she would watch her friend be sorted.

"Hmm, kind for certain but quite lazy indeed." The sorting hat said and Amethyst mocked a pout before grinning mischievously and shrugging off the observation. "Sort of brave, but mostly just a show-off…" (Amethyst scowled for real this time.) "Curious, open minded, always wanting to learn and experience… I think…Ravenclaw!" Amethyst looked surprised but happy at this and went to join the others.

After several more minutes Pearl heard her own name be called and stepped forward. She still wanted to be a gryffindor like Rose, but she thought she might like to be in hufflepuff or ravenclaw just as well so she would be with Garnet or even Amethyst. Rose picked up Pearl and set her on the stool, which earned a few laughs from the crowd, and even a few rude "boos" from the syltherin table. Pearl shot them a brazen glare. Rose lowered the hat and Pearl was horrified to hear "Slytherin!" echo through the great hall before it even touched her head.

 **Hope you enjoyed! Do you agree with my sorting? I was tempted to put Garnet in Gryffindor just so we'd be in the same house 'cuz she's my favorite character, but decided she belongs in hufflepuff. Then again, I always thought of myself as a Hufflepuff, but I finally got a Pottermore account and took the quiz and apparently I'm a Gryffindor!**


	7. Chapter 7

Pearl couldn't focus on the rest of the ceremony. She quietly sat down and endured the jeering and rude gestures and glares the other Slytherins shot in her direction. She sat as far away from the older students as she could and ate her meal in silence. Even the younger students wouldn't even look at her; all they did was whisper among themselves about a disgusting house-elf being allowed into their school, much less their house. Pearl; however, was too ashamed to care. She just felt numb. How could this have happened? She wasn't destined for evil, was she? Pearl wanted to look to Rose for comfort, but she was afraid that Rose wouldn't see her the same way anymore. To make matters worse, she was stuck with all these nasty kids who would probably use her like a chew toy for the next seven years. She tearfully glanced down the table and saw Jasper again, who still had an iron grip on the younger girl's arm. Pearl noticed several bruises around the girl's jaw and if anyone at that table looked more miserable than Pearl, it was her. Pearl jumped as she felt a tap on her shoulder and was relieved to see that it was Amethyst that stood behind her.

"Hey wanna come sit with me?" Amethyst said with concern in her voice. She was the only one standing up and not at her own table, and several people were staring. Pearl felt a bit embarrassed for her, but just nodded, and followed her to where the ravenclaws were sitting. Pearl felt gratitude swell in her chest toward Amethyst. She had really misjudged the girl at first.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" one of the older slytherins glared at Amethyst.

"Wherever I bloody want." Amethyst challenged as she lifted Pearl onto her shoulder. As they walked back to the table the Smart-Alek shot a rude gesture over her shoulder and snickered derisively. Nope, Amethyst was definitely crazy.

Pearl expected an icy reception from the ravenclaws, as slytherins seemed to be almost universally hated, but they actually seemed a bit overly interested in her. Pearl felt more than a little uncomfortable about being interrogated about her past and how she ended up being admitted to Hogwarts. All the same, they were friendly enough and Pearl was thankful that they more or less accepted her. She just hoped they didn't only see her as a novelty. At least this lot didn't frighten her.

Before long the great feast ended and everyone had to head off toward their own dormitories. Pearl was a bit nervous about going off with the other slytherins, but she kept her head down and followed the crowd, trying her best to sink through the floor. As it turned out, the girl she had seen earlier was a slytherin prefect named Lapis Lazuli, and led the girls to the dungeons. Most of the others stayed up in the common room, but Pearl scurried to her room as quickly as possible to avoid any trouble.

She shivered under her bedsheets in the drafty dungeon. She wished she could be somewhere, anywhere else, but she was still too afraid to go to Rose. Hadn't even she said slytherins were a nasty lot? What would she think of her now? Before long another girl entered the room and Pearl sat up and hoped she would just leave her alone. Luckily, the girl had little interest at all in Pearl and just laid down and started reading a book. Pearl laid back down and her thoughts wandered back to her friends. Amethyst didn't seem to give a rat's backside about where Pearl had been sorted, but would Garnet reject her entirely, just after they had only begun to get to know each other? The thought made her miserable. If Rose did the same she didn't think she could take it. Pearl couldn't sleep at all that night, and was still wide awake when another girl came into the room. It was Lapis Lazuli. The poor girl was limping and wiping something from her lips. Lazuli collapsed onto her bed and Pearl heard quiet, muffled sobs. Pearl looked over to the girl with pity and suddenly felt quite guilty for feeling sorry for herself.

 **Hope you enjoyed. As always, reviews and writing advice are welcome; I know my grammar's not the best.**


	8. Chapter 8

Pearl hadn't slept much the night before, but she still got up early to avoid the other students and to get down to the kitchens. Ever since Rose became headmaster she put an end to house-elves being used as free labor in the kitchens (unless of course they wanted to stay), and quite a few left. The ministry threatened to stop paying for the students' education; however, when Rose began to do such disagreeable things like that, as well as admitting non-human pupils. Rose decided to make Hogwarts a private school; however, and students whose parents could not afford tuition where offered scholarships for academic performance, and for working in the kitchens and such. Pearl could rely on Rose to pay for her personally, but she wanted to help out anyway, so she went down to sign up. For the time being, the staff was preparing meals.

When Pearl finally found her way to the kitchens (after getting lost several times due to the changing layout of the castle), she saw that Garnet was also there to sign up for kitchen duty. Pearl averted her gaze in embarrassment, just knowing Garnet thought the less of her for being sorted where she was. Garnet walked over to speak to Pearl and the elf prepared herself for the worst, but Garnet actually apologized for not doing what Amethyst had done last night.

"I should have noticed you were upset and didn't want to sit with those jerks." She said sheepishly. "I was having a good time and it was thoughtless of me. I can't tell you the last time people treated me like I was a normal person. The hufflepuffs are really cool."

"Oh. Thanks Garnet. I was worried you wouldn't want to be friends anymore. You don't think I'm a bad person?"

"Of course not! You've never given me a reason to believe that." Garnet reassured her, and Pearl felt much more hopeful; She hadn't lost her friends at all.

"I'm glad we're still ok" Pearl expressed, "and I'm sorry people act weird about the third eye thing." Garnet looked a bit confused by this but the girls' conversation was cut short as they were hurried out of the kitchens by the staff so they wouldn't miss breakfast.

"Hey, you can sit with us today if you want." Garnet offered, and Pearl quickly agreed. Pearl also expressed to her friend that she was worried Rose was disappointed in her because of her sorting, though her fear of any real rejection had been alleviated by her friends' actions.

"I think she knows you're different" Garnet said, "but you should go talk to her if you're upset about it. I'll even go with you." Pearl smiled thankfully at the three-eyed girl, and as they sat down, asked her about why she _did_ look like that anyway.

"Hey, if you don't mind my asking, why do you have three eyes, and why are you so tall?"

"Oh, well… My mom was half cyclops and could see the future like most of them can. I suppose that's where the extra eye comes from. I have the gift too, but my visions aren't always right. As for my height, my Dad was on the short side himself, and so are my uncles, but they have some giant blood in them way back. The trait seems to skip generations though, so I guess I happened to get the gene." Pearl nodded and thought that Garnet was possibly the strangest and most interesting person she had ever met.

The girls compared schedules at the table as they ate and found that they had several classes together. Their first class was actually learning to fly on a broomstick, and Pearl couldn't wait to go. Pearl loved flying, but never had done it on a broomstick. Garnet had played quidditch all growing up, so it was old news for her, but looked forward to seeing Pearl give it a go.

"Hey, are you going to introduce us, or what? Breakfast is almost over!" Pearl looked up to see a hufflepuff boy smiling at her and Garnet. "Hi, I'm Danny!" The green- haired boy shook Pearl's hand gently after a quick introduction from Garnet. The hufflepuffs seemed to be a big band of misfits, but they were some of the coolest and nicest people you could hope to be around. Pearl smiled and thought that maybe everything would be alright for her after all.


	9. Chapter 9

Pearl stood outside the castle with the other slytherins and hufflepuffs, waiting on the teacher to arrive. The slytherins were not looking very happy and here grumbling about having to take classes with a bunch of "mudblood hufflepuffs", and Pearl looked at Garnet too see what she would say. She looked really pissed but didn't say anything back to them, but talked to Pearl instead.

"The headmaster tries to mix up the houses in the same classes now." Garnet informed her friend. "She thinks we could all learn from each other if we are exposed to different ways of thinking, but slytherin refuses to get along with anyone. You may be the only half-decent one in the school."

Pearl smiled at the complement, but her attention was immediately drawn to the quidditch pitch. Lapis had been sent to go get brooms and was returning with them now. Pearl noticed her face was bruised and swollen, though she had attempted to cover it up with makeup to little avail. The little elf felt absolutely furious. She couldn't prove anything, but she had a pretty good idea who had done this to Lapis. As soon as classes were over, she was taking this to Rose. Jasper couldn't be allowed to get away with this!

Lapis stepped up and Pearl decided now was the time to focus on class; she couldn't do anything about Jasper and Lapis right now. "Alright, the real teacher couldn't make it because she woke up this morning with the flu, so since I'm a prefect I'll be teaching the class."

Everyone step to the left of the broomstick and put your right hand over the broom. It really doesn't matter what side you are on or what hand you use, but we're all standing close together, and we wouldn't want anyone getting whacked in the head by someone else's broom."

"Now, everyone say "up". It is important that you say it decidedly if you're going to do it this way, but I'm really not sure why we teach you this anyway, when you can just pick it up and sit on it, but whatever." Lapis said, rolling her eyes.

Pearl sighed and looked down at the broom and said "up" and to her surprise, the broom handle flew into her hand immediately. She grinned at Garnet, and her friend gave her a thumbs up.

Garnet had to say "up" a few times despite her flying experience, but she got it fairly quickly as well.

After everyone had theirs, Lapis ordered "Alright, now mount your brooms! When you fly, tilt the tip of the handle in the direction you want to go. When you want to level out, just hold it steady forward. To halt, pull it sharply upward and it should hover in a level position when you let go; you need to be careful though, because if you don't do it sharply enough, it'll think you want to go up and since you have to let go of the handle to make it stop, if you fail it's really easy to fall off! Speed is controlled mentally, so you gotta focus! To get off the ground, just kick off with your right foot. That's about it; you can take off now!"

Pearl, excited to begin, kicked off the ground and pointed the broom up at an angle. The broom rose gently into the air, and then she leveled out and practiced going left and right. After she got the hang of it, she even tried a few figure eights in the air, and then went faster and faster until she was dizzy. This was awesome! It was even faster than riding Snowdrop! Most of all, she relished the fact that she was getting the hang of flying faster than the vast majority of her human classmates. She would show them all what a house-elf was capable of!

Pearl wasn't sure if she could halt her broom in mid-air or not as she wasn't very strong, but she decided to give it a go anyway. She squeezed the broom as tightly as she could between her legs and pulled up as quick and hard as she could and let go. The broom jerked upwards and Pearl found herself dangling upside down by her legs.

The broom soon began to plummet toward the ground and Pearl was falling headfirst. From the corner of her eye, she saw Lapis zip forward, trying to catch her.

Oh no! Pearl couldn't let Lapis have to save her; it would be so embarrassing! Almost without thinking, she yanked her knees toward the ground as hard as she could and her body flew forward back onto her broom. She hit her chin hard on the handle, but she quickly got her bearings and gracefully landed to the cheers and relieved sighs of the hufflepuffs. Even a few slytherins looked begrudgingly impressed; Pearl gave a mock bow and smirked at them. That'll show 'em!

Garnet ran over and whooped! "Way to go, Pearl! That was awesome!" Garnet congratulated her and roughly threw Pearl into the air like a doll!

"Whoa, Garnet! Careful, you're gonna squish me!" Pearl laughed.

Lapis strode over with a strern look on her face. "Got a little ambitious there, huh? I warned you to be careful! Don't pull a stunt like that again! Lapis said, trying to sound angry, but a hint of laughter creeped through in her voice and despite her frown, Pearl could tell by the look in her eyes that the prefect was proud.


	10. Chapter 10

Pearl and Garnet walked together to Rose's office after classes were over. Pearl had had a few classes with Amethyst as well, but Pearl decided she preferred hanging around with Garnet. Amethyst was really nice and all, but man, she was obnoxious! In charms class, she had kept muttering a spell under her breath to make the professor's hair change color, and even worse, she kept picking her nose with the tip of her wand. It was disgusting! Despite all of that, Pearl had to admit that she was impressed that Amethyst could perform non-verbal spells.

The two girls arrived at the entrance of Rose's office and Pearl said the password. Rose normally didn't give students the password to her office, but Pearl was the exception. Pearl smiled. Rose trusted her with a lot, and it made her feel special. The escalating stairs took her and Garnet to Rose's office and the woman greeted them warmly and called them over to her desk.

"Hi Pearl. Hello Garnet. What's going on?" Rose asked, putting her papers aside and giving the girls her full attention.

"There were just a few things I wanted to talk to you about. Garnet wanted to come with me." Pearl replied. "I…wanted to ask about my sorting. There has to be some kind of mistake. I'm not a bad person, you know that, right?"

"Oh Pearl, of course not! Slytherins on the whole are a nasty bunch, but at its core it's about ambition, cunning, and resourcefulness. You may be all of those things, and those are traits that can easily go bad, but they are great traits in a good person like you."

"I'm scared around the other slytherins though! You're the headmistress, can't you put me anywhere else?

"I'm afraid I can't re-sort you, but I can change your living arrangements. There are a few empty spots in Gryffindor tower if you would like to stay there instead."

"I'd love that. Thank you so much, Rose! There's one more thing I wanted to talk about. You know my current roommate, Lapis?

"Of course. She's an excellent student. She made a perfect score on her owls last year and I made her a prefect!"

"Well… I can't prove anything, but I think she's dating that Jasper guy, and I think he's been hitting her. I know he's mean to her and threatens her, and her face is all bruised up. She came in crying last night after I saw him threaten her."

"I wondered how she kept getting all bruised up! She told me she kept getting hit by bludgers when she was practicing quidditch. I never believed her, but she insisted it was the truth and wouldn't tell me anything else, so I couldn't do anything. I promise I'll look into this, Pearl. Thank you for telling me. If I can prove anything I'll have Jasper expelled, but unfortunately I'd have to have no reasonable doubt that he's really doing it. Don't worry though, no one will know you told me."

"Ok" Pearl still felt a bit nervous, but she had done all she could, and she'd be moving into Gryffindor tower so she tried to relax as the two girls turned to leave.

"Oh wait, Garnet! May I talk to you alone for a minute? I wanted to discuss some rumors I've heard concerning you." Garnet looked to the headmistress nervously but reluctantly agreed, and walked back toward Rose's massive desk. "I'm sorry, Pearl. This should probably be a private conversation." Rose shooed Pearl out of the office. Pearl felt a bit hurt by this, but she needed to hurry up and move all her stuff anyway, so she walked back to her dorm wondering what she could possibly want to ask Garnet about and just hoped she wasn't in any trouble.


	11. Chapter 11

Hey, sorry it's been a while. I've been busy with online school and all. So I learned something cool about the houses. JK Rowling says you are whatever house you choose no matter what you got on Pottermore, so this is the work of a proud 'puff. Also, the Ilvermorny quiz is up and I got horned serpent!

Pearl jumped from stair to stair on her way down to the dungeons to get her things. She only hoped Lapis wouldn't be angry with her for leaving. She would need help taking her luggage back upstairs as she was too small to do it herself. Of course, even if Lapis said no, she could always ask Garnet, but she was determined to climb these stupid stairs as few times as possible. She had to either leap down or pull herself up, and after a few days of being at Hogwarts she was achy and exhausted from doing it so much, although she could usually hitch a ride on one of her new friends' shoulders. She had tried on numerous occasions to use the engorgio charm to make herself bigger, but she hadn't gotten the hang of it yet. She knew she could have just asked Rose to do it, but she had made up her mind she would do it herself. The way she saw it, the inconvenience was just all the more motivation to get the spell right.

She said the password for the Slytherin common room and stepped inside, where Lapis was apparently already studying. Lazuli took no notice of the elf's quiet entrance as she looked intently down at her assignments, but as Pearl approached her she noticed that what she was staring at was not homework at all, but what appeared to be a large shard of glass or mirror. She must have been examining her bruised face. She looked so miserable; it made Pearl want to cry. However, as Lapis changed the angle at which she was holding the mirror, she noticed something curious. In the broken surface of the glass, the battered girl's face was free of bruises and cuts and her eyes were shining a clear and beautiful blue, such a contrast from the actual tired look that the brunette wore now. It was almost as if the mirror contained the girl's very soul and she was longing to set it free.

"Lapis…?" Pearl finally spoke and Lapis nearly jumped out of her skin. She quickly attempted to hide the mirror and muttered a string of profanity upon being discovered in such a vulnerable moment. "Oh. It's you." She glared. "What do you want?"

"I…I'm sorry. I…"

"Spit it out!" Lapis said angrily, and Pearl wished she hadn't been eavesdropping.

"I need help moving my things." Pearl said, who decided to go with the simple truth. "I'm moving into gryfindor tower."

"How is that even possible?" Lapis asked, sounding more confused than angry now. "Was the sorting hat wrong? That's never happened before!"

"No, it's just a problem with living arrangements." Lapis looked less offended than skeptical, but allowed Pearl to continue. "The headmistress told me to move." Pearl said simply, not really caring to have to explain herself.

"Fine." Lapis said bluntly. "I've always been a loner anyway." Lapis' expression was unreadable, but she helped the elf anyway. Pearl sat on the luggage as Lapis carried it up to the entrance of the gryfindor common room. They took the whole trip in an uncomfortable silence and Pearl only hoped her new roommate wouldn't be so standoffish. "I don't know the password, but knowing gryfindors, it probably has four letters." Lapis said, rather hypocritically, Pearl thought. "You'll have to wait until someone comes by and says it." She then turned on her heel and left without another word. Pearl sighed. That was… awkward.

As it turned out the password was four letters (lion), and the first student who came by had no problem saying it in front of Pearl. He simply told her to do a better job cleaning or get back to the kitchens, apparently thinking she was one of the help. Pearl of course, was not happy at all with this, but it got her in, so she couldn't complain. Besides, if this guy was the one who came up with the password, (he was) he was too stupid for his opinions to matter to her anyway. It was fairly late at this point and no one else was in the common room, and Pearl doubted this guy would help her carry her stuff. Then she had a brilliant idea. "Yes, sir! I certainly will! Would you just be so kind as to help me carry these… cleaning supplies to the girl's dormitories?"

Pearl laughed to herself as she put up her stuff. "What an idiot!" she thought as she was finishing up and the door opened. "That must be my roommate." she thought and turned to see who it was.

"Peridot!"


End file.
